With the COViD nightmares of 2020 lingering in the minds of players, coaches, and fans, the Paris basketball program hosted Cedarville in front of a sparse crowd Tuesday night at Paris Gymnasium. Having to cancel junior high games the previous night due to COVID issues within the Cedarville program, the senior boys and girls games were played under a cloud of uncertainty due to the rapid spread of the virus.
The Paris senior girls, behind strong scoring nights from Jayden Wells and senior Jacee Hart, defeated the Lady Pirates in dominant fashion by the score of 55-32. Wells was the high scorer on the night with 25 points, many of which were uncontested layups due to forced defensive turnovers against the Lady Pirates. Paris played with just five players on the active roster for the game. Two players were affected by COVID and were not able to dress-out. For all of high school basketball, it is a time of trepedation as coaches are forced to juggle rosters and do everything they can to protect their players from the virus and to prevent the cancellation of conference games.
In the second half of the double header, the Paris boys went down to defeat to the Pirates by a score of 61-50. Paris’s scoring woes continued as the team is still searching for a consistent outside scoring threat to compliment its inside play on offense. The Eagles were outscored by a 15-8 margin in the third quarter and were unable to close the gap in the fourth.
Paris is scheduled to play at Booneville on Friday, January 14 in a traditional battle of Logan County, as well as important conference games between the two schools. However, basketball schedules are fluid and very much a day-to-day proposition with the cancellation of ground classes and the constant threat of the virus. I recommend that you talk to a coach or school administrator on Friday to verify that games will be played as scheduled. And that recommendation may be a way of life until the end of the current season in February.
Resident Press will stay on top of the constant developments with high school basketball and will bring you the latest information as soon as it is available. In the meantime, thank you, as always, for reading Resident Press!
